George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in a close 2000 election that was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court after recounts in Florida. Bush pursued tax cuts and education reform but his presidency was defined by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This led to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as increased security and surveillance policies domestically. Bush was reelected in 2004 but saw his approval ratings drop due to the economic crisis and handling of Hurricane Katrina. By 2008, Barack Obama was elected on a message of change, defeating John McCain amidst growing unpopularity of the Iraq War and economic challenges.

1. The New Millenium

2. Election of 2000
• George W. Bush (Republican) vs. Al Gore
(Democrat)
• Gore:
• VP
• Lacked a strong personality
• Bush:
• Texas Governor
• Son of a President
• Hoped to return morality & respect to White House

3. Election of 2000
• What should gov’t do w/ surplus
• $237 Billion
• Bush==Tax Cut
• Democrats said tax cut would go to wealthy
• Democrats thought that surplus should be used to
protect Social Security

4. Election of 2000
• To close to call
• Florida would have a recount
• Did Nader (Green Party) stop Gore from winning FL?
• Hanging chads???
• Florida became a battleground filled w/ lawyers, politicians,
media, etc.
• 36 days later the SC settled it in Bush v. Gore
• 5-4 they ruled to discontinue all recounts in FL
• Bush had secured the presidency
• 4th time candidate w/ most popular votes lost
• 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000

9. Bush Presidency
• Approach was more “corporate” compared to
Clinton’s laid back style
• Strict schedule
• Woke up early & left office at the end of the workday
• Clinton often worked long into the night, but had
more casual style
• Bush gave more power to his Cabinet, esp. VP Dick
Cheney

10. Bush Presidency
• Major tax cut, largest in history
• Cuts favored the wealthy
• Most taxpayers received a rebate of $300
• Hoped to jumpstart a faltering economy
• Recession after dot-com bubble burst
• Education reform---NCLB
• Accountability, “high-stakes testing”
• Federal funding tied to test scores

11. 1st term
• 9/11/2001
• NYC, Washington DC
• Hijacked commercial planes
• Both towers of NYC’s World Trade Center
• Pentagon
• 4th plane outside of Pittsburgh
• 266 passengers & crew died on planes

12. 1st term
• 180 died in Pentagon
• WTC buildings, 110 stories high, crumbled to the
ground
• Roughly 2,800 died
• Osama Bin Laden, head of Al Qaeda
• Taliban provided sanctuary for Bin Laden in
Afghanistan
• Taliban refused to turn over Bin Laden
• Bush to Taliban, they will “pay a price”

13. 1st term
• “War on Terrorism”
• Oct. 7, 2001—”Operation Enduring Freedom”
• Bombing campaign aimed at Taliban military & communication bases
• W/in a few months an interim gov’t est. in Kabul (capital of Afghanistan)
& Taliban was mostly wiped out
• Many taken to prison at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba
• Taliban/Ql Qaeda fighters fled Kabul for mountains
• Bin Laden was in hiding
• Taken out by Navy SEALs in May of 2011
• 2K+ Americans killed
• American troops still present
• Withdrawal under way

14. 1st term
• W/in month of 9/11 Bush created new executive
department: Homeland Security
• Beefed up presence at airports
• Headed by PA Governor, Tom Ridge
• Anthrax scares (in mail)
• News media, Senators,
• 18 infected, 5 died

15. 1st term
• Jan. 2002, Bush speaks of an “axis of evil”
• Included Iraq, Iran, North Korea
• Bush administration started to build a case for invading Iraq
• Oct. 2002, Congress passes resolution allowing the President to use force
against Iraq
• War began on March 19, 2003
• “Coalition of the willing”—20 nations (most notable==UK)
• “Operation Iraqi Freedom”
• Reasoning=connections to terrorist groups & WMDs?
• Additionally Hussein’s gov’t had major violations of human rights
• Saddam Hussein was captured in Dec. of 2003
• Sentenced to death by Iraqi Special Tribunal
• Executed in Dec. of 2006

17. • MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
SPEECH
• May 1, 2003
• Televised address onboard
the USS Abraham Lincoln
• “Mission Accomplished”
Banner
• “…the tyrant has fallen and
Iraq is free.”
• “The battle of Iraq is one
victory in a war on terror
that began on September
the 11th, 2001 and still goes
on.”

19. 1st term
• All American troops were
withdrawn from Iraq by the
end of 2011
• 4K+ Americans killed
• 30K+ wounded

20. WAR on terror--
controversy
• Surveillance
• Patriot Act, NSA
• Waterboarding
• Prosecution of unlawful enemy combatants by
military commission rather than a standard trial
• Some held for months, even years, w/o access to
lawyers
• Intense interrogations, even torture
• In 2008 Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay,
but still open today (150+ detainees)

21. Election of 2004
• Bush, Republican
• “JOhn KErry”
• “Kerry is Scary”
• Bush called Kerry a
“Massachusetts liberal” &
a
“flip-flopper”
• John Kerry, Democrat,
long-time Senator from MA
• “Kerry Bush Out”
• “More Trees, Less Bush”
• “Stronger at Home and
More Respected in the
World”
• Kerry touted his Vietnam
War experience

22. Election of 2004
• High voter turnout, another
close election expected
• 12 million more than 2000
• Both Bush & Kerry
received more popular
votes than any previous
candidate

24. 2nd term
• Hurricane Katrina, Aug.
2005
• Bush declared a state of
disaster in LA, MS, & AL
• FEMA’s response was slow
& flawed
• Some argued the response
was limited due to the Iraq
War
• 2007, U.S. entered
recession
• Bush signed into a law a
$170 billion stimulus
package
• 500,000 jobs lost in
November, 2008 alone
• GDP grew slower during
Bush’s Presidency than the
norm

25. Etc.
• Entered White House w/
50% approval, 80-90%
after 9/11, fell to as low as
19% in 2nd term
• Final approval rating was
34% according to Gallup
• Similar to Jimmy Carter
• 2000 & 2004, Time
“Person of the Year”
• Close to Tony Blair of UK &
Vicente Fox of Mexico
• Rising tensions w/ Putin by
end of 2nd term

27. Election of 2008
• Barack Obama & Joe
Biden, Democrats
• Obama defeats Clinton by
early June
• Obama=limited political
experience at national level
• Senator from Illinois from
2005 to 2008
• Born in Hawaii, controversy
over birth certificate
• John McCain & Sarah
Palin, Republicans
• Palin, Governor of Alaska,
was a surprise
pick/controversial move
• McCain was a prisoner of
war in North Vietnam for
5.5 years
• McCain=Long-time Senator
from AZ

28. Election of 2008
• Issues
• Iraq War
• McCain supported it, Obama opposed it
• McCain commented that the U.S. could be Iraq for the
next “50 to 100” years
• Bush’s unpopularity
• Bush did no campaigning
• Change vs. Experience
• The economy
• Health care

30. Election of 2008
• Popular vote
• Obama=52.9%
• McCain=45.7%
• 131.3 million voted, highest turnout ever, 60+%
• 62 votes for Santa Claus
• 11 votes for Mickey Mouse